The Child Snatchers
by BlueShadow4
Summary: The Doctor has regenerated- and has lost his memory as to why! Crash landing into the new life of Rani Chandre, he must do battle with the fabled Child Snatchers whilst constantly calculating what happened to his previous body. Set after Death In Heaven.
1. Prologue

**The Child Snatchers**

**Prologue**

Earth. Present day.

Nancy had just put the two children she was babysitting, Ray and Angela, before checking every room was how it should be. The bedrooms, the bathroom, the living room... She finally looked through the glass door towards the garden, filled full of stone ornaments. Most were small colourful gnomes standing around the small pond...but a few large stone statues with grey lifeless wings, soulless eyes and hands covering their faces stood in the shadowy backgrounds, elegant yet eerie in their togas. They were only visible by the slight moonlight that hit their smooth skin, leading Nancy to believe her eyes were tricked by her glasses. She was wrong.

After cleaning the lenses and checking again, she got worried. _Those weren't there before._ Before she could investigate, the house phone rang. DIIIIIIING DIIIIIIIING! She quickly ran towards the black phone on the table, placing it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello dear. Is everything alright at the house?" Mary Adams and her husband Andrew had visited a charity event that night, and we're on their way back in their car.

"Everything's fine. The kids are asleep, the house is safe...everything's okay."

"There's just one thing... Do you own any large statues in the garden? Like...angels?"

"No, why?"

She looked outside to find...the statues weren't there. _It must've been me._ "Never mind."

"Ok. We'll be half an hour, tops."

"Okay, bye." With that she put the phone down. As she turned around to go upstairs...she was met with stone fangs in widely-opened mouths. Talons reached out towards Nancy's shoulders, the closest angel managing to touch her. A piercing scream was the last seconds of her normal life, as she instantly disappeared out of existence. Alone, the statues turned their heads up towards the children- their next victims.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A New Man**

The many lights of the TARDIS console were blurred from The Doctor's perspective, his focus returning once the loud blares and flashing red lights filled the room. He slowly crawled upwards, using the console to lean on, staring intently at his two hands. He slowly lifted them, a confused expression written on his face. Two of his fingers on one hand moved to the other, pinching the skin and examining it. "TANNED?!" he suddenly exclaimed, "That's not right! Why am I _tanned_?! It doesn't suit me at all! And why can't I recall how this happened?!" In shock, he slowly looked down at his black, cape-like jacket, which was battered and tattered. "Why can't I remember? I'm normally so very good at remembering thing."

He slowly turned to the controls of the TARDIS, only now worried about the sirens going off. The first wave of explosions came- sparks fired in all directions, fireballs spewing off here and there. "No! Stop it!" He darted around the console unit, dodging the dangerous fireballs and sparks whilst desperately pulling every lever and pressing every button in the hope of saving his machine, all however in vain. The central glass pillar began to crack and buttons started to fly off their respectable places. Realising there was no way out, The Doctor made his way to the screen, reading the date as 11th January 2015- the day he would crash land into.

With a huff, he braced himself for the impact to come, his mind still full of questions. _What happened to me? How did this regeneration happen?_ Before he could continue, the TARDIS landed with a THUMP! The room filled with a newfound sense for The Doctor: silence. He slowly stood up, grunting as he did. He took a minute to think as to what to do next. _I need something. What is that What do I need It's such an obvious answer But what is it?_ At a snail's pace, he walked to the front doors, stopping half way to release a burst of regeneration energy from his breath. The sensation that anything could be waiting for him outside was only paralleled by the worry he had for himself. The doors creaked open, allowing The Doctor to poke his head outside. There was no one nearby, and so he quickly stumbled out of his time machine, followed by a vast amount of smoke. He turned back, assessing the damage. _Conclusion: Well, that was a train wreck._ He turned back around, only now noticing the house he had landed in front of. He could feel his mind and his stomach yearn for something, but he didn't know what. Desperate, he trotted to the front door, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "Urrrgh. _Green._" With that, he activated it, the door unlocking just in time for the Time Lord to stumble into the house.

CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP

Rani's day had been tiring, much like every other day. Juggling her university work, her newfound job as a sales assistant and her applications for journalist positions had proven to be much more of a challenge than fighting invading aliens such as Slitheen and Bane and Sontarans. Furthermore, her roommate had become a whining bottomless pit ever since her boyfriend dumped her. She was not looking forward to getting back to the house to be greeted by sobbing.

CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP

As Rani remembered her past life back at Bannerman Road, she thought to herself how dull life had become. By now she had reached the house, only to find it surrounded by a cloud of thick smoke. Panicking, she raced to the front door, only to find it unlocked. The mess left in the corridor was a shock and a relief- she had originally thought that the house was on fire. A second glance, however, noticed something. _This mess... It's just a bunch of newspapers. Why-_

CLUNCK

Rani quickly turned to the kitchen, where the noise came from. There she saw a long shadow of a man behind the open door, walking around as if desperately searching for something. An assortment of foods began to fly across the room next, confirming her theory. She had creeped right up to the kitchen door by now, hiding behind it, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She realised she was breathing too loud too late, for at that moment everything turned silent.

_Keep calm. You've handled far worse than robbers in your life. This should be a piece of-_

Suddenly, a surprised and confused face zoomed right in front of her, only to be greeted by even more shock and confusion. His slightly tanned skin was scrunched together by his wide, unblinking eyes. As she took a step back he followed in curiosity. Finally he spoke, asking one question: "Do you have any chocolate milk?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Chocolate Milk**

Ignoring the strange request, Rani quickly jumped to the defensive. "Whoever you are, you betta leave right now or I'll contact the police!" She then worked her way around the downstairs floor, searching for her roommate. _No sign of her._ She turned back to the mysterious man. "Where's Jeannine?"

"Who, the other one?" he replied nonchalantly. "She was all screamy and panicky. It started to get on my nerves after a while, especially since she didn't tell me where the chocolate milk was. She ran outside." He then resumed to search for the milk, annoying Rani even more.

"Didn't I tell you to clear off?!"

"Yes you did." Casually ignoring her, he opened the fridge door with a yank, before ransacking it for a few seconds. Defeated, he closed the door quickly, and turned back to Rani like a child to his mother. "Is there any chocolate milk?"

Opposing his calm tone, she replied harshly "No we don't have any bloody chocolate milk!" having lost her patience. "What sort of burglar are you anyway?! Asking for chocolate milk."

"The non-burglar-type." Outside the whirring of police sirens shone a bright blue through the windows. Once both people had noticed this, as busily as a bee the man started to pace the house. "Right. Not got much time."

"What? To escape?"

"No to plan ahead." He then turns away from Rani, closing his eyes to avoid distractions. "Firstly, why can't I remember? I wouldn't _decide_ to forget a regeneration, that's stupid. So why? That's the problem, I DON'T REMEMBER!" He then turned back to the confused girl staring at him, who was noticing his ragged clothing for the first time. "And YOU," he says with a grin, "you're right."

"About..."

A loud banging began at the front door, followed by demands to let the police in. "Metropolitan Police! Open up!"

Ignoring them, the man continued. "The disappearances."

"How...did you-"

"It's plastered all over the newspapers. You saw it too, and instantly saw the similarities, given your alien fighting background."

More seriously, she questioned the intruder. "Who are you? How do you know about that?"

"You've met aliens before. I'm probably the worst one of them _all_." With that, the front door flew off its hinges, the house suddenly filling with blue light and bold policemen.

_Who was he?_ was the only question Rani could think whilst waiting at the police station. _How could he possibly know about my encounter with aliens? I've never told anyone. The man also implied that he's an alien, but why tell me?_ A familiar policeman from the raid approached her, annoyed at his detainee. "What did he say?"

"Well luv, he won't say anything to us. All he says is that he'll talk to you with a glass of chocolate milk. Would you mind...?"

"Sure." She then let the officer guide her to the interrogation room, where she found the mad young man swinging on his chair, grasping a once-full glass of chocolate milk and a brown moustache around his mouth.

"Ah, hello!" he exclaimed with a wide grin. He let his chair swing back down onto the ground as Rani sat on the opposite side. "Just what I needed, this chocolate milk. The grey matter upstairs' starting to reboot its-"

"Who are you?"

He leaned his weight into the desk, intrigued. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You used to be...kinder? Is that the right word? No no, wait- gentler. You used to be _gentler _with the aliens. So...what changed?"

Now she leaned in, to the point where they were both at the eye line of the other. "_Tell_ me who you are."

The Doctor stared right through Rani, almost as if scanning her, leaving an uncomfortable silence. Finally, he spoke. "Imagine the greatest mind you've ever known, even if for a second." He then pulled away, relaxing in the chair. "I guarantee I am better than that."

Rani replied with a chuckle to herself, remembering the long brown coat and the tight blue suit. "_That_ is impossible."

He took a second to reply to this, taking a deep breath before speaking rapidly. "The tone you told me off with back at the house wasn't just angry, it was sad, a sad I can relate with. Someone you know has died. Juggling that with the defensive nature you took once I mentioned aliens, I believe that someone from your attic in Ealing died. As for the disappearances, you're right. They're linked, but no one noticed because all of the stories were on pages 19, 24 and 26 where no one reads. The only reason you noticed is because you subconsciously look for the adventure you now miss. You want to tell someone, but you don't want to seem mad to others, especially your future employers at The Times. As for who I am, you probably worked that out by now, but if you haven't allow me to introduce myself. I'm The Doctor. I'm a 2000 year old Time Lord from the planet Galiffray in the constellation of Kastaborus who stole a magic blue box called the TARDIS. I've just regenerated, which means I'm angry because for some reason I've developed a genetic fault where I cannot be ginger. So to conclude, if you want my help to save the entire human race, I need your full cooperation right now-like you would for Sarah Jane- and get me out of jail, to the most recent disappearance, and when I've solved out what's going on, get me some proper CHOCOLATE MILK!"

Dumbfounded, Rani's wide eyes stared on as she muttered "You're... The Doctor?"

"I know." he replied, much slower. "It's a lot to take in, not least to say. Now, we haven't much time-I'd say about a minute- until UNIT get here. So... Seen any sorts of weird clouds in the sky or crop circles or meteorites? Anything at all?" Rani shook her head quickly. "Shame. Something else... Why can't I remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Exactly." Before they could continue, the door opened swiftly, and a middle-aged woman with blond, medium-length hair and a casual suit walked in, as if she owned the place. The Doctor's face lit up slightly. "I'm glad you didn't bring a squad of your goons. Again."

"Always a pleasure to see you too Doctor." she replied rather wittily. She then turned to Rani. "I don't believe we've met. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Chief Science Officer of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. I believe you met my father."

Rani rose up from the chair to accept the hand that reached out to her. "Yes, the Brigadier! I never knew he had a daughter."

Kate, then Rani, turned their attention to The Doctor, who had stood up by now. "Doctor. We need you."

"Let me guess-the disappearances. See Rani, you may be insane, but you're not alone in the world." The Doctor started to pace around the room, cogs in his head spinning and spiralling continuously. "It's a tough case though, Kate. No forced entry, no sign of blood or injury. Not even anything out of place in the house. Whoever they are, they're experts or aliens." He then stopped, turning to both women with a grin on his face. "I'll take the case." He then quickly dashed next to Kate. "But I'll need my companions."

"Where are they?"

"Well, one's in this room, and the other's probably painting something." With that, he quickly ran out of the door towards his TARDIS.

Kate turned to Rani, bewildered. "Who does he mean?"

"I know who." she replied.


End file.
